Sensation amp & Piano CD @ California audio show in San Francisco this weekend

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fritzspeakers

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I would like to invite any AC members attending the California Audio show in San Francisco this weekend to come up to room 1102 & check out my speakers & the M901 Sensation amp and Piano CD player.  This amp is all decked out with the Dodd Audio tube buffer, battery pack & Platinum bypass caps and sounds wonderful!

Also, if any Bay area members are interested, I enjoy doing in-home demo's with my speaker systems to hear how they work with all kinds of amps & in different acoustic environments.

See you at the show!  Fritz Heiler
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wsturner

Those speakers look a LOT like the ProAc Response 1SC speakers. Do they sound as good?

Russtafarian

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See ya there Fritz!

toxteth ogrady

I've been wanting to hear Fritz speakers and Virtue Audio components so this is excellent news!

virtue

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We're looking for some volunteers to help Fritz at the show as well.  I haven't seen Melissa in 2 weeks and she won't let me go. 

Please PM me or Fritz if you can spare a few hours, if only to give the man a potty break.

tabrink

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Seth,  Fritz,
That photo is breathtaking!  A match made in musical tube evolved bookshelf heaven! Two rock stars.
Well done! Can not believe how good the sound from this room is going to be! Go tell it on a mountain for sure!
Wish I could be there but this 100 year old home needs more bathrooms.
Tom
Of course I already have been enjoying my two Virtue systems and tube rolling mania!.

dba

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Best of luck Fritz - have a great show! :thumb:
danny.

fritzspeakers

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Please check out the nice reviews of both the Sensation amp & my Carbon 7's that are in the latest Positive Feedback issue & go to my web site for some other rather nice ones.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue50/toc50.htm

Just a quick update before I leave to set up at the show-  I'll have a pair of my Carbon 7's & a new smaller compact model that has the ScanSpeak 5 inch Revelator mid/bass driver & the ScanSpeak 9500 tweeter with my series crossovers that do not have any caps or resistors on the tweeter & just a couple of smaller inductors on the mid/bass driver.  I like to use drivers that have very smooth roll offs & these are some of the best available & they really sound great with minimal crossover parts.  BTW- ScanSpeak 5 inch Revelators were also used in ACI Sapphire XL's & an older version of the $4800 a pair Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor monitors among many other fine loudspeaker companies.



I will also be showing a proto -type of my Fritz 1 FC model with the ScanSpeak 3/4 inch dome tweeter & a new woven poly cone mid/bass driver with my series crossover.  I'm inspired by many ProAc designs & I used to build my own version with the same tweeter & a similar 5 inch Seas driver that unfortunately Seas discontinued several years ago.  I've been playing with many different drivers ever since waiting for a good replacement & this is it!

NEW MODEL FRITZ 1FC  (Fritz Compact)
 


OLD DISCONTINUED MODEL



Thanks & See you all @ the show...  Fritz

se-riously

I just wanted to post my impressions of the California Audio Show held in Emeryville (SF Bay Area, just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco).  A list of exhibitors can be found here:

http://www.caaudioshow.com/

This was my first audio show ever, and I only had time to check things out the last 3.5 hours of the 3-day show.  I would have easily arrived earlier and stayed longer, but time-off from toddlers is a rare commodity, as is quiet listening time with my Virtue One.2, GR Research OB5, and Rythmik D15se.  :)

So in my (very) limited time there, here's some of my favorites:

1)  YG Acoustics Carmel.  In a word, fantastic, and it better be for an $18K retail price.
2)  Salk Soundscape 12.  $14K minimum plus upgrades.

OK.  Back down to (my) budget.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

1)  Salk Songtower QWT's.  What needs to be said that hasn't been said before?
2)  Fritz Carbon 7's.  Absolutely amazing bass output, clarity, imaging, and soundstage.  They were powered by some vintage amp from 1983.
3)  Fritz (yet-to-be-named) bookshelves paired with a "fully loaded" Virtue M901 with battery kit and Piano M1.  While the speakers didn't have quite as much bass output as the larger Carbon 7's, they were the bomb.  Seth - You should consider replacing the orange/red sides of Fritz's Sensation/Piano with aluminum versions (probably a bit too "loud" a color combination for more conservative tastes).

I would also like to add that since I was there at the end of the show and the attendees were trickling out, it was an absolute pleasure talking for quite some time to Fritz and Jim Salk - who were no doubt tired from the 3-day event.  You could tell from their product knowlege and selection of components that their focus is on quality, quality, quality.  Interestingly, the first speaker Jim built was a GR Research AV1 back in 2001.  :)

When I called my wife that I was on my way home, the first question out of her was "Did you buy anything?"  And my response was no.  I heard some wonderful equipment, and some, not so much.  But the key was that when I came home, I'm not really longing for any replacement gear right now - yes the Virtue One.2 is that good, although I may take up the offer on a Sensation upgrade!  As I'm typing this, I'm listening to Fritz's demo CD.  Thanks Fritz!  :)

I also had a few, OK several, disappointments on the show (my opinion only):

1)  Acoustic Technologies Classic speakers.  These are single driver speakers that were driven by a First Watt F3.  A $2,450 pair of speakers that I felt does nothing exceptional.  Grossly unacceptable for the price IMO was that these speakers were finished in a red maple type VINYL veneer.  YIKES!

2)  Audience LLC (sorry Roger).  When all of your presentation materials showcase towering line source array speakers, and all you have at the show are the LSA2+2's (at least that's what I think was there), you can't help but wonder what they really have to offer.

3)  Tonian Labs.  I never got to hear them because they were packing up their wares 3 hours before the show ended.  WTH????  I overhead one of the guys mentioning that they have a "long drive back".  Your business decision fellas...

4)  Audio Image LTD.  They're a local vendor in the East Bay who showcased some Sound Lab electrostatic hybrid speakers.  One of their displays highlighted crossover construction with Mundorf caps and some very nice looking inductors mounted on a PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD!  With a retail price exceeding $40K? (I didn't even bother to ask), do you think you could at least throw in OFC point-to-point wiring?

5)  Music Lovers.  They're another local vendor in the Bay Area with two stores (in SF and Berkeley).  The only speaker in the room, a bookshelf that escapes my mind, was awful for the lows.

6)  JIB-Germany.  Pretty looking cables.  Perhaps you'd sell more if you had them hooked up to something and compared "Brand X" to yours?

7)  Earthquake Audio.  Now they have a lot of products, and I counted at least 5 personnel, including one very tall and lovely brunette.  Gotta cater to those male customers that constituted 99% of the attendees right?  Anyway, switching from your Cinenova amps and some wonderful speakers to the iQuake (a powered 2-speaker system with direct iPod connectivity) as a part of your demo is a quick and easy way to show how crappy an iPod can sound.  Do you really think that people are coming to an audio show to listen to a $375 iPod setup?

Since this was my first audio show, I thought there were some DON'T DO'S that I think some exhibitors should follow:

1)  Don't leave the noisy hotel room AC on during your demo.  Distracting as hell on an already crappy listening environment.  If your stuff sounds good, I'll live with a stuffy environment.

2)  Don't "schedule" your demos at fixed time intervals.  There's way too many exhibitors showcasing their wares when you're not.

3)  Don't showcase nice room treatments and leave large hotel room mirrors untreated.  It basically says you don't know how to treat a room.   :duh:

4)  Don't showcase speakers when the tweeters are only 20-inches off the floor.

eclein

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Nice post se-riously!! :thumb:
I lust after Orange(Red Brick) Piano with silver columns :drool:

virtue

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Bryant,

Thanks for your sweet review!  If anyone took any pictures I'd love to see them - none so far.

The last email I sent out could have given the perception that I will allow trade-ins for older amps.  That ship sailed last year and I learned my lesson! 

If you'd like to upgrade to a Sensation, now is the time and the good folks on Audiogon will sell your used ONE/TWO with pleasure.

Please note that we will completely sell out of ONE.2s (ONE.2 "classics" are nearly gone - cami found a few more last night after a warehouse move) in about a month.  I expect that for at least 5 months, there will be nothing on our shelves under $400.... so your lower-priced amps are going to be worth used every penny you paid for them new. 

I wonder whether Audience just didn't have any of the line arrays in stock.  How did the 2+2 speakers sound?

Seth
« Last Edit: 2 Aug 2010, 08:58 pm by virtue »

TheChairGuy

I wonder whether Audience just didn't have any of the line arrays in stock.  How did the 2+2 speakers sound?

Seth

I though the Audience 2-ways sounded fine....it's a new product for them, a lot less than their line array stuff (still I think these little 2-ways are $5000 list - ouch).

I didn't realize it was Virtue equipment powering Fritz's new 2 way bookshelves....I think that was what he was playing when I came in and I remarked to myself and him and good it all sounded in there.

I think the folks that played limited range speakers in those small rooms held a sound advantage...no matter how many towels, bass traps, etc you install in a small room...when you use full range floorstanding speakers in them, the sound waves are just too much to enjoy matters.

So, Fritz's small bookshelves powered by wee Virtue electronics sounded tasty indeed :)

John

some young guy


I think the folks that played limited range speakers in those small rooms held a sound advantage...no matter how many towels, bass traps, etc you install in a small room...when you use full range floorstanding speakers in them, the sound waves are just too much to enjoy matters.


I agree completely!

virtue

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Here are some sweet pics from the show from Ramon de Vera.







THANKS Ramon!

Seth